<em>High Priest as King (?)</em>, ca. 1070-945 B.C.E. Quartzite, 4 7/16 x 2 7/8 x 3 1/4 in. (11.3 x 7.3 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.835. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 36.835_threequarter_SL1.jpg)

High Priest as King (?), ca. 1070-945 B.C.E. Quartzite, 4 7/16 x 2 7/8 x 3 1/4 in. (11.3 x 7.3 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.835. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 36.835_threequarter_SL1.jpg)

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Is the hole in his head damage or symbolic of something?

Good eye! That hole shows the loss of a uraeus, which you will see in many other depictions of kings in the same spot on their head or headdress. The uraeus was a protective goddess in the form of a cobra, whose image was affixed to a variety of objects. Look for them as you explore! You can find many in those galleries.

Tell me more.

The hole in his forehead is where a uraeus cobra once would have reared its head.

The indication of the cobra, but no other royal headdress leads scholars to believe that this head depicts a priest who tried to claim kingly power. This is know to have happened especially with high priests of Amun around the time this was created, the 21st Dynasty.

High Priest as King (?)

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: 19th Dynasty to Roman Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

The highly idealizing treatment of this face, including the narrow eyebrows, the sharp vertical lines running down the nose, the full round cheeks, and the small mouth, is paralleled on some of the Twenty-first Dynasty's few royal sculptures and reliefs. Moreover, the cavity on the forehead once accommodated a uraeus cobra, a symbol of royalty. Still, the head does not necessarily represent a king. It may be one of the dynasty's high priests, who often usurped royal insignias, including the uraeus, as a sign of their authority over Upper Egypt during the political turmoil of the period.

MEDIUM Quartzite

Place Made: Egypt

DATES ca. 1070-945 B.C.E.

DYNASTY Dynasty 21

PERIOD Third Intermediate Period

DIMENSIONS 4 7/16 x 2 7/8 x 3 1/4 in. (11.3 x 7.3 x 8.3 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 36.835

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

PROVENANCE Archaeological provenance not yet documented; prior to 1819, reportedly in the collection of Charles-Philippe Campion de Tersan of France; by 1841, acquired by James-Alexandre de Pourtalès, Comte de Pourtalès-Gorgier of Switzerland; February-March 1865, purchased from the James-Alexandre de Pourtalès, Comte de Pourtalès-Gorgier collection sale, “Vente de la galerie Pourtales”, by Lord William Tyssen-Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney, of London, United Kingdom; June 13-17, 1921, sold at Sotheby’s London, “The Amherst Collection of Egyptian and Oriental Antiquities”, lot 258; between 1921 and 1936, provenance not yet documented; before 1936, acquired by Dikran Kelekian of New York, NY; 1936, purchased from Dikran Kelekian by the Brooklyn Museum.

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CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Red quartzite head presumably a king, originally fitted with bronze uraeus, now missing. Head entirely shaved, prominent ears. Condition: Chin chipped, various minor chips.

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view on the 19th Dynasty to Roman Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

CAPTION High Priest as King (?), ca. 1070-945 B.C.E. Quartzite, 4 7/16 x 2 7/8 x 3 1/4 in. (11.3 x 7.3 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.835. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 36.835_threequarter_SL1.jpg)

IMAGE threequarter, 36.835_threequarter_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

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Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Is the hole in his head damage or symbolic of something?

Tell me more.

The hole in his forehead is where a uraeus cobra once would have reared its head.